Marc Jacobs Bids Farewell to Louis Vuitton: A Look at His Final Show for the Fashion House

After much hype and rumor in the past several months, it's happening. Marc Jacobs is bidding adieu to Louis Vuitton after 16 years as creative director. The news was announced earlier today by WWD after the Vuitton show the Cour Carrèe du Louvre in Paris, where in the program notes, Marc wrote a note to his longtime business partner and the LVMH chairman and CEO, respectively saying: "For Robert Duffy and Bernard Arnault, All my love, Always." Marc plans to turn his focus entirely to his eponymous collection, which according to the New York Times, is estimated to be near $1 billion in sales.

Ever the consummate showman, Marc made sure his final show for Vuitton—which he transformed from a storied leather-goods brand into one of the most directional fashion houses in our times— was an exquisite sendoff. He touched on his most influential collections for the maison over the years as well as his influence as an American designing in Paris. A collector of contemporary art himself, Marc is credited with ushering in an era of collaborations between artists and fashion, having partnered with Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, and, most recently Yayoi Kusama, on collections and for Vuitton. Such collaborations earned the house the attention of more than just fashion lovers, but art and culture institutions as well.

The set today was a mashup of his most memorable, theatrical runway designs of late with a carousel, a pair of escalators, a fountain, and the famous Claridge's elevators (of which he is so fond and designed a collection around in fall 2011), except this time, it was all in somber black.